Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Brave (2012)

Written by: Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman

Directed by: Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman

Starring Kelly Macdonald, Billy Connolly & Emma Thompson

This was a good movie for kids.

Kelly Macdonald does a wonderful job as the voice of the
main character Merida. Voice acting is more difficult then one would think
considering your expressing feelings through your voice alone and no other actors
to play off of. Billy Connolly, voice of her father, and Emma Thompson, voice
of her mother, both do wonderful jobs as well.

The animation is new, very new. The red curly hair on Merida
head is amazingly animated to mimic real hair movement. Each scene is masterpiece for digital
hair bounce technology. Merida is a wild young prince who bucks off her
responsibilities and her hair matches her personality.

What this film is missing is the usual wink or nudge Pixar
usually incorporates into their films. Usually there is a grown up joke folded
into each story that adults can enjoy alone with their children who the film is
primarily geared for. For example: in WALL-E we see hundreds of lazy humans who
are fat and lazy polluting their own living space, in ‘Toy Story’ we had
countless innuendos between Woody and Little Bow Peep, and in ‘A Bug’s Life’ we
got a direct nod from kurosawa’s film ‘Seven Samurai.’

Kids will love this movie; adults may find it fun but lose
interest quickly. Having said that it might speak to a female population of
movie goers more then the male population of movie goers. I imagine it has a
stronger connection because of the subject matter being the relationship
between mother and daughter primarily.

No rating. The movie is very heartfelt and ends well. It’s
just not a masterpiece.